Police in September responded to a robbery at Chase Bank in Kings Crossing shopping center on Grasmere Avenue. Overall, the number of crime and the number of calls to police declined in 2013 from 2012 levels, police say.

An exception, Lussier said, was an increase in robberies, which rose from 11 in 2012 to 16 in 2013, a 33 percent increase. Some of those incidents were holdups at convenience stores, but the town also recorded its fair share of bank robberies -- including two on the same day, within a half-hour and half-mile of each other. Those two robberies are thought to have been committed by the same suspect, who is also linked to similar bank robberies in other towns.

Robberies "get a lot more attention" from the public, Lussier said, as do residential burglaries that take place while the residents are home.

"We've had more bank robberies than ever, and an occupied home break-in makes it a lot more concerning," she said.

MacNamara agreed. "Similar to other areas in the state, there seemed, in a short period of time, several higher profile incidents in rapid succession of each other, that leads to concerns about what appears to be an increase in the crime rate."

Good work and communication between police detectives here and in other towns help to solve property crimes, the chief said.

"I think the detectives have a much better communications network with other departments and they're able to obtain information to develop suspects more readily, especially the burglaries and robberies," he said.

MacNamara said the department's detectives charted a rate of almost 25 percent in solving burglaries, compared to a national rate of 12.7 percent.

"Obviously, we take a lot of steps to reduce the number of burglaries," the chief said, and when they do happen, the detectives work hard to identify and arrest the suspects. "Most burglars will continue to commit burglaries until they're caught."

For instance, she said, people heading to a gym to work out, "should not take anything more with you then you need to effect your business. ... You have to be more vigilant."

Violent crime in Fairfield also decreased, with assaults dropping from 101 in 2013 to 71 in 2013, and sex violations fell from 15 in 2012 to 13 in 2013.

Parking violations increased from 890 in 2012 to 1,026 in 2013, a jump Lussier said may be attributed to a new ticketing system.

Shoplifting incidents notched a small increase, from 211 to 229, while the number of cars stolen dropped from 60 to 33.

There were more motor vehicle accidents with injuries -- 203 -- last year, compared to 171 in 2012. There was also more warnings issued for motor vehicle violations, 2,642 in 2013 versus 2,300 in 2012, although the overall number of traffic stops by officers dropped from 9,107 in 2012 to 8,170 in 2013.